The present invention relates generally to document conversions, and, more particularly to preserving pagination of a document converted from a first page size to a second page size.
In today""s global economy, businesses quite commonly have divisions in many different countries and continents. A result of the international scope, a business must deal with differences between countries in which it operates. One such difference is that standard paper sizes differ between countries and continents. Businesses are likely to adopt the paper size of the country in which the business is located because (i) local businesses and people expect business to be conducted with the regional paper size, and (ii) the regional paper size tends to be less expensive than other paper sizes due to economies of scale experienced by local paper manufactures.
International businesses often have electronic documents such as product manuals, training manuals, and employee handbooks which need to be printed in different business locales. For example, a US division of a business may create an electronic document of a training manual. The US division is likely to format the training manual for US Letter paper since US Letter paper is highly available in the United States. A European division of the same business may wish to have copies of the training manual. Accordingly, the European division would like to print copies of the electronic document. However, if the European division prints the training manual on A4 paper, then the printed training manual will have an uncentered appearances due to the dimensional differences between A4 paper and US Letter paper.
In order to obtained a more professional looking printed document, the European division basically has two options. One, the European division may print the training manual on US Letter paper which is more costly for the European division. Two, the European division may resize the electronic document so that the training manual prints centered on A4 paper. While the second approach is more ideal, the resized A4 printed training manual may include broken page references. In particular, due to the differences between A4 paper and US Letter paper, the A4 printed training manual is likely to have different page breaks (i.e. pagination) than the US Letter printed training manual. Since the training manual was created for US Letter paper, the page references contained in a table of contents or an index of the training manual reference content on US Letter pages. The same content, however, is likely to appear on a different page of the A4 printed training manual.
Accordingly, there is a need for preserving pagination of a document converted from a first page size (e.g. US Letter) to a second page size (e.g. A4).
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of converting a document from a first page size to a second page size. One step of the method includes determining a first line length from the document formatted for the first page size. Another step of the method includes determining a first page length from the document formatted for the first page size. Yet another step of the method includes defining a second line length for the second page size that is equal to the first line length. The method also includes the step of defining a second page length for the second page size that is equal to the first page length. Moreover, the method includes the step of formatting the document to utilize the second page size, the second line length, and the second page length.
Pursuant to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of converting a page size of a document from a first size having first dimensions to a second size having second dimensions while maintaining pagination of the document. One step of the method includes the step of determining a current margin value for a margin of the document. Another step of the method includes defining a margin conversion value based upon the first dimensions of the first size and the second dimensions of the second size. Yet another step of the method includes determining a new margin value from the current margin value and the margin conversion value. Moreover, the method includes the steps of setting the margin equal to the new margin value, and setting the page size of the document equal to the second size.
Pursuant to yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable medium for converting a document from a first page size to a second page size. The computer readable media includes instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to determine a first line length from the document formatted for the first page size. The instructions when executed by the processor further cause the processor to determine a first page length from the document formatted for the first page size. The instructions when executed by the processor further cause the processor to define a second line length for the second page size that is equal to the first line length, and define a second page length for the second page size that is equal to the first page length. Moreover, the instructions when executed by the processor further cause the processor to format the document to utilize the second page size, the second line length, and the second page length.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new document conversion process.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved document conversion process.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a document conversion process which preserves original document pagination.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a document conversion process for converting a document between US Letter and A4 paper sizes without changing pagination of the document.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the attached drawings.